


Awake My Soul

by Iron_Angel



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-16 21:54:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13062912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iron_Angel/pseuds/Iron_Angel
Summary: The population boom after the end of War World II made the need for soulmates virtually extinct. One hundred years later, a young Edward Deegan feels a strange pull he doesn't understand. "Virtually extinct" doesn't mean entirely gone.(ABeer and Benefitssoulmates AU nobody asked for. Yep, an AU of an already AU-ish kind of series. *sighs*)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [insert disclaimer here] Unbeta'd. I'll correct mistakes and typos as I find them.

It was in the autumn of 2047 when young Edward Deegan first felt the _pull_. Being only ten at the time, it didn't make any sense to him. His infantine instincts merely told him to "go that way". So, without warning or explanation, he simply abandoned the game of stickball with his friends and began walking down his neighborhood street. When a pair police officers returned him to his worried sick mother well after sundown -- he'd actually made it to the highway just outside of town -- he couldn't explain why he'd done it or where he was going. He didn't get the good, old-fashioned whumping he was almost sure he'd get for wandering off so far _and_ having to be brought home by the cops, but he wasn't allowed to play outside by himself for nearly a year and a half afterwards.

The urge never faded, however.

Six years later, in his high school biology class, he learned of the virtually extinct _Soulmate Imperative_. According to the textbooks, the sudden increase in birth rates after World War II had all but destroyed the biological instinct binding compatibly perfect mates a hundred years prior. There were now many and -- most importantly -- varied options available to continue the human species. Soulmates just weren't needed anymore. But, on incredibly rare occasions, it still happened.

"To those lucky (or perhaps unlucky) enough to experience the Soulmate Imperative," the book went on to explain, "the sensation begins as an inexplicable pull."

~

Like the majority of young men of the time, Deegan joined the armed forces right out of high school. Three years into his four-year tour, however, he was given a dependency discharge when his mother fell gravely ill.

It was during those difficult last days and in his deep grief that the _pull_ changed. It had never left him, but it had also never really touched him either. Sitting on the back steps of his childhood home, unable to shed the tears his mother deserved, he felt what he could only call a "sympathetic caress". Something outside of his own mind was trying to comfort him.

It was small, tenuous, and terribly fragile. He didn't dare reach for it like he wanted to for fear of breaking it.

It stayed with him for the rest of the week.

The day after his mother's funeral, he made arrangements to sell the house and set out for Boston, Massachusetts.

Finally following the _pull_.


	2. Chapter 2

The Soulmate Imperative was not a precise compass, and, as it turns out, nearly six _million_ people lived in the Greater Boston metropolitan region. "Needle in a haystack" didn't even begin to cover it.

Stepping off the bus, Deegan adjusted his duffel bag higher onto his shoulder and stared up and around at the towering skyscrapers. Imposing and a little intimidating, it was very different from the antebellum structures and picket fences of his hometown.

"You get used to it," a voice said next to him.

He glanced down at the man that had spoken. Deegan was taller than the average, but this one was short even by normal standards. A good twelve inches shorter than Deegan, at the very least, with horn-rimmed glasses and a pencil moustache. Sharp eyes, but hardly any muscle mass to speak of.

Only one word came to Deegan's mind as he continued to stare at the man: Egghead.

The man extended his hand. "Jack Cabot," he said by way of introduction.

"Edward Deegan." Appearances were deceiving, Deegan thought at the unexpected firmness of the handshake. "You make a habit of greeting strangers coming off the out-of-town bus, Mr. Cabot?"

"Call me Jack, please," he chuckled. "And no, I don't. I'm inclined to call it serendipity. It just so happens that I was on my way toward the local employment line to hire new help. You could be just what I need." Deegan cocked an eyebrow at him. Jack gestured towards Deegan's duffel. "I need muscle for a security position. Unless my assumptions are entirely wrong, you have the look and the gear of former military. And what would former military coming in on the out-of-town bus be doing in Boston proper if not looking for a job?"

Definitely an egghead.

"Close enough," Deegan nodded. "Security, huh?" It didn't sound so bad. Better than janitor work, which was about as far as his civilian skills would get him right now. And Jack had said "local," which meant it would be work in or around the city. It could, potentially, allow him to search for the source of the _pull_ in his off time. "We talking guard duty or personal protection?"

Jack beamed; apparently that was the correct question to ask. "I'll go into further details of the job description in a moment. But first, I'd like to ask your opinion on an... unusual topic." He motioned for Deegan to walk with him as he turned to head back down the sidewalk. "So, Edward, do you believe there is other intelligent life in the universe?"

Great. One of _those_ types of eggheads.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.


End file.
